Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Snake (1)

“Whoa… What the hell.”

Anagin was dumbfounded.

Because he was still flying through the sky, having been thrown by the Master’s hand.

Did that even make sense?

Don’t know. Apparently it did.

Anagin wanted to ask, too. No matter how strong someone was, was it really possible to throw a person hard enough that they flew for hours?

But with a bird flying right beside him, he had no choice but to believe it. He really was flying.

‘Is this magic?’

As he flew through the sky, Anagin found he had some leisure to think.

Had the Master used magic?

What was it he’d said magic was, again?

A power that twisted the world’s laws by using an unknown force called Yeom?

The miraculous power to start a fire without flint, to make ice even when it wasn’t winter.

This seemed like it could be a kind of magic, too.

If it wasn’t, then there was no explaining how a person could fly for hours on end.

‘Did he lie to me?’

Anagin thought back to when he’d asked the Master to teach him magic.

He was fairly sure that man had said he couldn’t use magic himself, so he couldn’t teach it. Now that he thought about it, that seemed like a lie.

Or maybe he really was just so strong that he’d thrown Anagin all this way… Laughably enough, that seemed pretty plausible too.

Thanks to all the times he’d gotten beaten senseless by the Master, Anagin knew exactly how strong the man was. Looking back on it now, those were almost fond memories—

“—No time to be spouting that kind of carefree nonsense.”

…Shaaaaaaah!

The sound in his ears turned harsh, and Anagin muttered to himself.

When he looked down, the ground was slowly getting closer. Which meant he was falling.

‘Damn it, this is bad.’

Looking at the ground as it crept closer, Anagin thought.

Even for a Giant with a superhuman body, falling from this height without any kind of plan would be rough.

Even if he broke something, it would heal quickly enough, but he’d still rather avoid the pain.

His body was precious, after all.

‘Then again, if it’s magic, I’ll land safely… No, before that, if that Master bastard had even an ounce of consideration, he’d have set up something to help me land.’

Anagin placed a sliver of hope in the Master who had hurled him without a second thought. A commonsense hope that surely he’d done something to prepare.

Whooooooosh…!!

But in vain—the ground grew closer and closer, and the wind in his ears only grew fiercer.

Only then did Anagin realize.

That there was no such thing.

“Figures. He’s not that kind of man!”

Recalling just what kind of person the Master was, Anagin grabbed the top of the tallest tree around.

The unusually tall tree bent sharply to one side under Anagin’s grip, and his weightless plummeting body suddenly felt resistance.

Craaack—!

The tree bent sharply to one side as the ground drew near. It seemed like he might actually land safely—

—Snap!

The branch in Anagin’s hand broke, and he plummeted again, splashing into a large pond.

“Pffwaah…!”

The moment he surfaced, Anagin let out an irritated sigh. He appreciated being sent off quickly, but couldn’t the man have given him at least a warning?

The Master was always calling Anagin an uncultured brute, but watching him now, the Master seemed like the bigger brute.

“Great. Soaked through before I’ve even properly set off.”

Anagin grumbled as he climbed out of the pond and looked around for something.

It was the travel pack he’d instinctively thrown when the branch snapped.

Right before hitting the pond, Anagin had instinctively untied his pack and hurled it onto the ground.

If the food and clothes he’d gone to the trouble of bringing got soaked, that would be genuinely infuriating.

Fortunately, his throw had been true, and the pack was safe and dry. At most it had a bit of dirt on it.

Pat. Pat.

Anagin brushed the dirt off the pack and looked around.

‘A forest.’

Countless trees filled his view, sunlight filtering through the branches, weeds carpeting the ground… By any measure, it was a forest.

He wondered if he hadn’t left his home forest after all, but that wasn’t it.

The air and atmosphere were different from the forest he’d lived in, and more than anything, the Master—suspicious and eccentric as he was—wasn’t the type to spout empty boasts.

If he said he’d send Anagin out of the forest, he would have done it.

So there was only one answer.

It was true that Anagin had left his home forest, and the place he was now standing was a different forest.

A forest beyond the forest where Anagin had lived.

“My heart’s racing a bit.”

Anagin muttered, recognizing the fact that he’d made it out of his forest.

He didn’t show it outwardly, but honestly, he was a little curious.

Even Anagin himself was surprised.

He’d never had much interest in the outside world, yet now that he was actually out here, he found himself intrigued.

“Hah…”

Like the Village Chief said, the heart was something you couldn’t see, and that was exactly why it could grow strong or weak. Considering how quickly it could change like this.

Which meant the Chief telling him to leave right away, since minds can change, had been good advice.

Anagin chewed over the teachings of the Village Chief—his other teacher—and thought about what to do next.

He’d come out into the world to become a god, but he had no idea what to do or where to go.

First, he needed to figure out where he was, but how was he supposed to do that?

Just as he was thinking he might as well pick a direction and start walking, he sensed the sound of horses and wheels, and the presence of several people, from far off.

Anagin turned his head, and something approached from the distance. Rumble, rumble, it went… It was a carriage.

Anagin waited quietly for the carriage, and as if by agreement, it stopped right in front of him.

“Are you all right?”

An old man sitting on the driver’s seat greeted him.

Behind the kindly-looking old man with the gentle impression, a boy and a girl who appeared to be his grandchildren peeked out. Judging by their heights, the girl seemed to be the elder.

When Anagin didn’t answer, the old man added:

“You look soaked. Aren’t you cold?”

“Where is this place?”

Anagin asked. First, he needed to know where he was.

“…This is Apix.”

The old man answered “Apix” with a puzzled expression.

The land situated between Hellas, where the civilized people lived, and Babaland, where the barbarians and monsters lived.

He’d heard this much from the Master.

Anagin asked his next question.

“Are you heading to a village?”

“That’s right… It’s my final destination, but before that, I’m heading to a city.”

A city.

He’d heard about them from the Master. Places several times—no, ten times—bigger than a village. Walled in stone, with countless people and goods, he’d said.

Honestly, it was hard to believe, but it wasn’t a bad story.

Anagin decided to head for the city for now. More people meant more information to be had.

He’d learned about Ascetics from the Master, but the kind of Ascetic Anagin aimed to become was hopelessly obscure, so he needed to gather information.

“Could I share a ride with you?”

When Anagin asked if he could ride along, the old man permitted it with his good-natured face.

“By all means. There are others riding along as well.”

Just as the old man said, several people with shabby appearances were riding inside the carriage.

Not just the old man’s grandchildren, but a woman and child visible through the gap, an old man in spectacles, and others.

Anagin sat in an empty seat near the driver’s bench, and the girl handed him a dry towel.

“Wipe yourself with this.”

In return, Anagin took out a gold coin and held it out to the old man. It was a gold coin he’d received from the Village Chief.

“Thank you for your help.”

“Well now, you’re a rich one?”

The old man marveled at the gold coin.

Giving a gold coin just for a ride and a towel was no ordinary generosity.

As if to prove it, the other passengers in the carriage stared at Anagin with surprised eyes.

The man himself, however, spoke as casually as ever.

“I’m not rich.”

“Then put it away. I didn’t help you for money.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Anagin tilted his head. The old man laughed.

“Haha, do I look like that much of a money-grubber?”

“No, it’s not that, but I heard that all outside people love money.”

Anagin spoke as he’d heard from the Master. That all outside people were crazy for money. That in extreme cases, parents even sold their own children.

But regardless of that, he thought he should still pay. Even in the village where Anagin had lived, repaying help was basic manners. Give and take was how people kept helping each other, wasn’t it?

Much less with a stranger he’d happened to meet, not even a fellow villager.

“Hmm, outside people? Where are you from?”

“A place quite far from here.”

“Is that so?”

“By any chance, a Babaroi…?”

Midway through the old man and Anagin’s conversation, someone cut in. It was the woman sitting in the corner, holding a child.

“Babaroi?”

Anagin repeated back. It was a word he’d heard once from the Master. Barbarian, or something like that?

“Sir, make that man get off! He’s a barbarian, isn’t he? It’s dangerous!”

The woman shouted with a scowl.

It was an abrupt situation, but rather than getting angry, Anagin just observed how things were playing out.

He could just follow the carriage to the city anyway, so being kicked off didn’t matter much.

The old man driving the carriage replied:

“Calm yourself, madam. He doesn’t look like the type to cause trouble.”

“But—”

“—I’m the one driving this carriage. As long as he doesn’t cause problems, it’s fine.”

The woman shouted while clutching her child, but the old man, despite his kindly face, refused with firm resolve. In the end, the woman gave up.

Once the woman and the old man’s exchange ended, Anagin naturally chimed in.

“Are you all from Hellas?”

Anagin guessed, recalling what the Master had said.

That the people who called a stranger a barbarian to their face were usually from Hellas.

For reference, “Hellan” referred to the people who lived in Hellas, and they called themselves civilized people.

The ill-mannered civilized people who called everyone but themselves barbarians.

“That’s right. Well, I’m on my way back, though.”

“On your way back?”

“I’m from Hellas too, but it’s been decades since I left.”

‘Is that why he was considerate?’

Anagin guessed at the reason the old man hadn’t thrown him out.

“More importantly, are you really a Babaroi?”

“Should I get off?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just—you speak the common tongue well, and you seem Hellan.”

“I don’t really know either. I’ve never been asked about trivial things like that.”

When Anagin answered confidently, the old man laughed and apologized.

“How did you get here?”

A little kid who’d been listening nearby cut in. It was the old man’s grandson.

“The adults are talking…”

The older sister, startled by her little brother’s sudden behavior, tried to stop him, but Anagin answered as if he didn’t mind.

“I flew here through the sky.”

Anagin answered, recalling the fact that he’d flown (been thrown) here over several hours.

Strictly speaking, he’d been thrown, but Anagin glossed it as having flown through the sky. He had flown through the sky for hours, after all… It absolutely was not because he was embarrassed.

The kid’s expression, previously full of curiosity, quickly turned to disappointment.

“Liar! How can a person fly!”

The kid shouted, apparently thinking Anagin was trying to trick him.

The kid’s older sister restrained her brother and apologized.

“I’m sorry. My little brother has no manners.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one freeloading a ride. And I never asked anyone to believe me anyway.”

Anagin genuinely didn’t care. Believe it or not.

He hadn’t said it hoping to be believed in the first place. He just didn’t like lying, so he told the truth.

Perhaps Anagin’s attitude made the kid even angrier, because the kid dragged his grandfather into it.

“Grandpa doesn’t believe it either, right? How can a person fly!”

“Well now, child. Is there any need to insist on believing or not believing something like that? If he says that’s what happened, then that’s what happened.”

“You get it.”

Anagin chimed in agreement with the old man’s easygoing attitude. As expected, he seemed like a man who understood.

“More important than how you got out is why you got out. You seem to have your circumstances, so don’t worry about it. Everyone has their own—”

“—I came out to become a god.”

Anagin spoke without hesitation to the old man who’d been trying to be considerate. Well, it wasn’t exactly something to hide.

At the absurd declaration, everyone’s eyes fixed on Anagin. In their eyes were emotions like surprise and bewilderment.

“…An Ascetic?”

Someone asked. It was the old man in spectacles.

“Well, something like that.”

“Any dog or cow can—”

—Rumble!

Mid-sentence, the carriage suddenly stopped, and the horse whinnied. The carriage shook violently.

Wondering what was going on, Anagin looked ahead and saw a crowd of people gathered on the road, forming a long line.

A sight unfamiliar to Anagin, who’d only ever lived in his village. It seemed unfamiliar to the people here too, as everyone looked curious.

Why were people gathered here?

The old man driving the carriage approached a man and asked what was going on.

“Excuse me. What’s happened that everyone’s gathered like this?”

“Don’t even mention it. They say a giant snake has coiled itself up ahead on this road.”

“A snake?”

“That’s right. That’s why everyone’s stuck here. Judging by that merchant caravan over there being stuck too, it must be a pretty dangerous one.”

“Oh dear…”

The old man sighed in dismay.

Looking in the direction the man pointed, there were indeed people leading several pack carriages.

They were offering a reward to anyone who dealt with the snake to the people standing at the road, and just from that, one could guess it wouldn’t be easy to get through.

On the road, the third strongest force after armies and mercenary bands was a merchant caravan. The fact that such a caravan was offering money instead of handling it themselves meant the creature was a serious threat.

It wasn’t something anyone short of a considerable fighter could deal with.

“So I just need to get rid of that snake?”

Anagin appeared suddenly from behind the old man and asked.

As if it were nothing.